The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of controlled deflection roll -- sometimes referred to in the art as a roll with bending compensation -- which is of the type comprising a fixed support and a hollow shell rotatable about said fixed support and displaceable relative to the support in the direction of a pressure plane, at least one hydrostatic contact or pressure element being located between the fixed support and the roll shell. This contact or pressure element is effective in the pressure plane and serves to press the roll shell against a counter roll and thus for producing the pressure or contact force of the roll, there also being provided at least one hydrostatic lift-off element which is effective in the opposite direction to the contact element and serves for lifting-off the roll shell from the counter roll, and the contact element and the lift-off element are connectable by hydraulic lines or conduits with a source of hydraulic pressurized fluid medium.
Such type roll construction has been disclosed to the art, for instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,802,044 and 3,885,283, the respective disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
When the prior art controlled deflection rolls are employed in rolling or roller mills, which must be rapidly opened for operational reasons, and wherein the roll shell must be rapidly moved away from the counter roll, then difficulties exist in terms of the drainage or outflow of the hydraulic liquid in the usual manner from the contact or pressure elements, thereby delaying opening of the roller or rolling mill.